Fourth time's the charm?
by stars and sparkles
Summary: /Wet hair, chapped lips and oh my god he might be in love./ a lucaya oneshot
1. Chapter 1

i. the very first time

He sighed heavily as he pushed the heavy, and huge, box through the hall. It had not been a very good day for Lucas, to say the least. He had just shifted to his new apartment and no, he loved it. It had a great neighborhood, an even better view and his clinic wasn't very far away from the place. His apartment was warm and simple, just the way he liked. The only problem was that the movers he had called for were hella lazy and clumsy. They had brought the truck an hour late, dropped a few boxes on the way up to his floor and no, they were using elevators and still managed to do that. If that wasn't bad enough, they left a rock sized box outside apartment building and, purposely or not, forgot it right there.

He had been pushing that thing for the past twenty minutes, trying to get it into his apartment and when he got near his apartment door, he was exhausted. It had taken all his power and he cursed all the junk food he had had the past month.

He stopped, relieved that he had managed to get near the door and kept his hands on his waist whilst breathing heavily.

His mind had been wavering off to various things, specifically to the appointment with the poodle, Murphy and her super paranoid owner, Suzanne that he had to miss because of the delay. He was so doomed Suzanna had managed to get an appointment the next day.

Suddenly, he felt something near his right foot and he looked down. It was a paint brush, a very dirty one, covered with red paint and almost abruptly a hand came into the picture, a very dirtier one than the brush with paint stains all over it. He drew the obvious connection pretty quickly and looked up. But before he could see the person with the tiny stained hand, _she_ was already on her way back inside her apartment.

The girl had feisty blonde hair that had been covering her whole face while she hastily picked up her brush, mumbling something like,

"I'm so sorry."

He hadn't been able to see her face behind those messy hairs but he remembered her petite form. She was short and would probably only come up to his shoulder, at most. She was wearing some sort of a baggy sweater that was huge for her size but because she was wearing only the sweater, he had been able to see her slender legs. He should've been mad at himself for staring but because his encounter with the mysteriously beautiful woman had been for such a short time, he couldn't really stare.

She was mysterious, messy and cute. Cute in an amusing but dainty kind of way.

It was only a matter of seconds but his heart had raced just a bit and he hadn't even seen her face but he was pretty sure that at that moment, there was nothing in the world that he was yearning to see more.

ii. drunk and sloppy giggles

It had been a week in the new apartment and all was going perfectly well except for one tiny thing. He would usually come back home by six in the evening and every time he would reach two steps away from his door, he would look at the door across his and he would stare. Only he knew, how much the figure behind that door intrigued him.

He hadn't been able to talk to her the whole week because every time he came home, her door would be shut and he had no reason to knock and talk to her. Well, he could always go and start the 'friendly new neighbour' conversation but considering that she already had seen him and rushed off without bothering to start a conversation, he had decided otherwise.

It was weird.

It was weir that he could miss her at the most random moments. Moments like when he would spot any blonde women around him or when he'd hear the word 'sorry' or when he'd see off-white baggy sweaters or brushes or just red colour, his mind would race back to the cryptic beauty.

It had happened again for no real reason this time. He was pretty sure it was past midnight and he just couldn't sleep. It was almost like that woman who was probably oblivious of his distorted thought, was haunting him.

… and then it happened.

He heard footsteps outside his apartment, clumsy ones and for some reason, he was sure it was her. The sound of jingling keys followed and then followed a series of drunk and sloppy giggles. He sat up on his bed after hearing what seemed like a melody to his ears, not being able to contain himself.

With what he heard, he figured that she was drunk and was trying to unlock her door and failing miserably at that since he heard the keys fall down on the ground _thrice._

His mind slightly pondered over the idea of going outside and helping her but he heard her say,

"Chill, Riles I'll be okay."

And he heard the door click open and he felt slight disappointment that she had been able to get in through the door which also meant, that he couldn't go and talk to her now.

With that thought, he laid back down and released the pillow, he didn't realise he was hugging.

The giggles stayed with him all night and he couldn't sleep properly, drifting in and out of sleep.

They were angelic and he now knew, more than he did before, that so was she.

iii. ajar doors

This time it was a week and a half since he last saw or heard her and it _killed_ him. He knew that he could go and talk to her about anything in the world but he couldn't bring himself to do that.

Everyday he'd come from work and there would be no sign of her and another disappointment would add to his dungeon of disappointment that just seemed to grow and grow in these past days.

It had been a tiring day at work, with Suzanne having an hour long appointment with him and all he wanted to do was sleep in the comforts of his bed.

But fate had better plans.

As he walked over to his apartment and like every day, turned to look at hers, his eyes went wide and he froze.

The door was ajar.

The door was _ajar._

Ajar enough to give him a view of the inside of her humble aboard if he went closer. And so he did. Her apartment was exactly like his except that hers had a delicate scent of jasmine floating. He closed his eyes for a moment taking it in and when he opened them, he paintings. Lots of them. They were placed nicely, some on the walls and some on the corners but all of them were just as different as the other. They were colourful and very professional, with precise strokes and intricate designs.

… and then he saw _her._

A tiny figure with milky white skin, sitting on the ground, in front of a blank canvas, wearing a blue tank top and a wad on her head. It was nothing extraordinarily glamorous, except it was.

Time stopped and he felt numb. He didn't what was happening but he almost lost control over his body. His hands shivered and the keys dropped. A jolt of realisation went through his body and he caught the keys before they touched the ground. Man, did those baseball practices al throughout school, paid off.

He looked up and he saw her moving and he was suddenly scared. He couldn't really place what he was scared off but he just was. He quickly turned around, unlocked his door, went in, shut it loudly and stood behind it, panting. He didn't look back and maybe his action was reflex but considering the extremely loud thud of his door, it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was him creepily prying on his neighbor.

He could've talked to her if he stood there and not run off like a thief but his body wasn't controlled and coordinated enough to face her.

iv. fourth time's the charm?

He was a chicken.

He was.

He admitted it.

Even after a month of staying next door to an apparently gorgeous women, once-a-high-school-stud Lucas Friar, couldn't talk to her.

He had given up and left it completely over destiny to make them meet somehow. And even though he wasn't a believer of destiny, it did work for some people and at that moment, he really wished he was one.

Another day, another glance at the closed door and another sigh.

But as he turned, he saw a brush. The same brush he saw a month back, except it was covering with a mixture of purple and grey paints this time. He bent down and picked it up. And as held it, he almost felt as if he had touched her.

He couldn't keep it since it was possibly important to her… so he had to return it.

What would he say to her? He didn't know.

What was he going to do? He did know.

He took a deep breath and turned around.

Simultaneously, her door clicked open and she stepped out.

… and they were face to face.

There she was, better than he ever imagined her to be.

 _Wet hair, chapped lips but perfect in her own mad way._


	2. Chapter 2

v. it was meant to be  
(Epilogue)

Maya sighed as she finally sat down on the couch. The day had been more tiring than she expected. She knew she had three pieces left to finish for the art exhibition over the weekend and she was already halfway through them so it didn't seem like a tedious task in the morning.

But when she got to getting them done with, it really took longer than she expected. Nevertheless, she was happy with the result.

Her paintings seemed to have started exploring love after she moved in with Lucas.

Lucas, that dork.

She remembered exactly how they're first meeting was. Well, calling it a meeting wouldn't be appropriate but yeah it was something.

She was in the middle of one of her very difficult works and she'd been working on that for about two hours. Her hands were a little sore because of constantly gripping the brush and so was her wrist. So when she yawned, stretched her arms backwards, she'd lost her hold on the brush and it'd went outside.

She should've gone to pick it up but she was too tired. Once she completed her piece, her body had given up on stamina and she felt dizzy.

She remembered falling asleep right there in the mess and waking up after an hour.

Her door was closed and she recalled that it was open when she fell asleep. That's how it had tumbled outside in the first place.

But she was sure it was Mrs. Coleman who closed the door. She was a sweetheart. Definitely a sweetheart for a person who lived alone in her seventies.

When she woke up, the canvas in front of her reminded her that her brush was still outside. So groggily, she stood up and went to the door.

Now, Maya was wearing a sweater. That's it. Her female instincts told her to check through the hole if any creep was outside. And so she did. To her surprise, someone was there. A very good looking _someone._ She could make out that he was hot even with the limited view.

She considered changing and getting ready before going outside but he'd already seen the brush and obviously wondered whose it was. So Maya Hart being herself, did the first thing that came to her mind. She went out, whispered an apology for no real reason and picked up the brush before rushing inside.

She was sure that haste behaviour hadn't gone unnoticed and she was immediately embarrassed. She had ruined her chance with a hot guy who she supposed was a neighbour.

After that, she never went up to him, still embarrassed by their first meeting. He probably thought of her as some mad clumsy woman who lived alone. And her childhood hadn't helped her in gaining any self esteem so she concluded that their story was over. Before it even began.

Lucas told her a while back that their second meeting wasn't a meeting too but it was him listening to her drunk self in the middle of the night.

Maya was immediately flustered. Besides the fact that she had unknowingly made a mockery of herself in front of Lucas again, it frankly surprised her that he had still managed to fall in love with her.

Well the third time was an interesting one. This was the one where she realised that she had somehow managed to gain his interest or at least that was what sneakily peeking in your neighbours apartment made her think.

She wouldn't lie, she was very excited when she realised it was him. And that's what led to their final rendezvous.

Now this was a planned one. Since Lucas didn't take any step towards her after last time, she took matters in her own hands.

She purposely left her brush outside the apartment hoping that he would return it to her. She'd told Lucas that just a couple of days ago and he had laughed at her ultimately admitting that if it wasn't for her and her trick, he would've most probably been a coward and never come up to her until an emergency that he just couldn't avoid, came up.

The observations of his work timings in the past month had helped her to get the right timing or kinda not because after she left the brush, she went for a bath to look presentable in front of him.

And then it happened.

She heard the knock and she rushed outside the bathroom with wet locks and a long button down shirt and she was pretty sure she looked far from neat and approachable but she wasn't going to miss this chance.

When she opened the door and her eyes met his,  
he was better than she ever imagined him to be.

 _His hair, a mess and his expression, dumbfound but he was perfect in his own mad way._

Their story recommenced from there and now she lived with him, more happy than she had ever been.

As she replayed all this in her head, it made her realise their untidy and muddled tale was just _meant to be._

A/N : So this wasn't supposed to be a part of the one shot initially but I posted the same story on my wattpad (LetsTalkStars) and added this as a bonus chapter so I decided to do that here too. I don't have my laptop. It was supposed to come back A WEEK AGO and I still haven't received it . but anyway.. I hope you liked whatever this was.

v. it was meant to be  
(Epilogue)

Maya sighed as she finally sat down on the couch. The day had been more tiring than she expected. She knew she had three pieces left to finish for the art exhibition over the weekend and she was already halfway through them so it didn't seem like a tedious task in the morning.

But when she got to getting them done with, it really took longer than she expected. Nevertheless, she was happy with the result.

Her paintings seemed to have started exploring love after she moved in with Lucas.

Lucas, that dork.

She remembered exactly how they're first meeting was. Well, calling it a meeting wouldn't be appropriate but yeah it was something.

She was in the middle of one of her very difficult works and she'd been working on that for about two hours. Her hands were a little sore because of constantly gripping the brush and so was her wrist. So when she yawned, stretched her arms backwards, she'd lost her hold on the brush and it'd went outside.

She should've gone to pick it up but she was too tired. Once she completed her piece, her body had given up on stamina and she felt dizzy.

She remembered falling asleep right there in the mess and waking up after an hour.

Her door was closed and she recalled that it was open when she fell asleep. That's how it had tumbled outside in the first place.

But she was sure it was Mrs. Coleman who closed the door. She was a sweetheart. Definitely a sweetheart for a person who lived alone in her seventies.

When she woke up, the canvas in front of her reminded her that her brush was still outside. So groggily, she stood up and went to the door.

Now, Maya was wearing a sweater. That's it. Her female instincts told her to check through the hole if any creep was outside. And so she did.

To her surprise, someone was there. A very good looking _someone._ She could make out that he was hot even with the limited view.

She considered changing and getting ready before going outside but he'd already seen the brush and obviously wondered whose it was.

So Maya Hart being herself, did the first thing that came to her mind. She went out, whispered an apology for no real reason and picked up the brush before rushing inside.

She was sure that haste behaviour hadn't gone unnoticed and she was immediately embarrassed. She had ruined her chance with a hot guy who she supposed was a neighbour.

After that, she never went up to him, still embarrassed by their first meeting. He probably thought of her as some mad clumsy woman who lived alone. And her childhood hadn't helped her in gaining any self esteem so she concluded that their story was over. Before it even began.

Lucas told her a while back that their second meeting wasn't a meeting too but it was him listening to her drunk self in the middle of the night.

Maya was immediately flustered. Besides the fact that she had unknowingly made a mockery of herself in front of Lucas again, it frankly surprised her that he had still managed to fall in love with her.

Well the third time was an interesting one. This was the one where she realised that she had somehow managed to gain his interest or at least that was what sneakily peeking in your neighbours apartment made her think.

She wouldn't lie, she was very excited when she realised it was him. And that's what led to their final rendezvous.

Now this was a planned one. Since Lucas didn't take any step towards her after last time, she took matters in her own hands.

She purposely left her brush outside the apartment hoping that he would return it to her. She'd told Lucas that just a couple of days ago and he had laughed at her ultimately admitting that if it wasn't for her and her trick, he would've most probably been a coward and never come up to her until an emergency that he just couldn't avoid, came up.

The observations of his work timings in the past month had helped her to get the right timing or kinda not because after she left the brush, she went for a bath to look presentable in front of him.

And then it happened.

She heard the knock and she rushed outside the bathroom with wet locks and a long button down shirt and she was pretty sure she looked far from neat and approachable but she wasn't going to miss this chance.

When she opened the door and her eyes met his,  
he was better than she ever imagined him to be.

 _His hair, a mess and his expression, dumbfound but he was perfect in his own mad way._

Their story recommenced from there and now she lived with him, more happy than she had ever been.

As she replayed all this in her head, it made her realise their untidy and muddled tale was just _meant to be._

* * *

 **A/N : So this wasn't supposed to be a part of the one shot initially but I posted the same story on my wattpad (LetsTalkStars) and added this as a bonus chapter so I decided to do that here too. I don't have my laptop. It was supposed to come back A WEEK AGO and I still haven't received it . but anyway.. I hope you liked whatever this was.**


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